Happy Lunar New Year! Portland State’s Hong Kong Student Association held a lively Lunar New Year Show on Feb. 16 in Smith Memorial Student Union. The event attracted nearly 280 people, including many Asian students.
In addition to a traditional Lion Dance, a martial arts demonstration from Portland’s Summit Wushu Academy and other traditional art performances, this year’s event also featured Los Angeles–based stand-up comedian Jenny Yang. Her unique and entertaining style of comedy appeared to energize the crowd.
“Comedy is an art that can be translated across cultures no matter what ethnicity or race you are,” said HSKA President George Noinola. “Having Jenny was a different feeling than all of our prior years because we have always invited singers to be our headliner.”
Yang, who immigrated with her family to the United States from Taiwan at age 5, based much of her material on American stereotypes of Asians and on her life experiences as an Asian-American.
“Jenny Yang was my favorite part of the show,” said Cameron Lombard, a linguistics major at PSU. “Her comedy combines biculturalism and activism. She is cool.”
The HKSA, established in 2013, will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year. “I wish everyone a lucky Year of the Dog and good health and the ability to spend more time with family,” Noinola said.
新年到，賀新年! 波特蘭州立大學香港學生會於2月16日在史密斯紀念學生會館舉辦了一場熱鬧的春節晚會。現場聚集了將近280多位學生，其中包括多位亞洲學生，雖然無法返鄉與家人共聚，但藉此活動以解思鄉之愁。活動不僅有舞獅、武術等傳統藝術表演，今年還特別邀請洛杉磯搞笑藝人珍妮．楊到場助陣，她獨特搞笑風格把現場氣氛帶到最高點。
主修公共衛生教育的學生會會長喬治‧諾伊諾拉表示：「搞笑是一門不分種族的跨境文化藝術，所以今年我們決定打翻以往把歌手擺在壓軸的慣例，特別邀請珍妮來現場炒熱氣氛。」五歲就和家人從台灣移民到美國的珍妮，搞笑題材多半來自於美國人對亞洲人的刻板印象或生活周遭的點點滴滴，不僅是亞洲人甚至連美國人都能有所共鳴。
目前就讀應用語言學系的卡梅隆‧倫巴多說：「珍妮的搞笑橋段是春節晚會節目中，讓我印象最深刻的。她的笑話不僅融合了兩種不同文化，還帶出了社會改革意識。」
於2013年成立的香港學生會，今年已邁入第五年。學生會從創始至今秉持著年年都能讓大家過好年的精神，此春節活動也在今年迎接了第五次舉辦。喬治說：「希望大家能狗年行大運、身體健康、闔家團圓。」